Veteran indie-rock group The Mountain Goats are set to return to Australia and New Zealand in 2026, coinciding with the announcement of their 24th studio album.
Set for April 2026, they’ll hit Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Auckland, and Wellington — marking their first visits to Australia in nine years and New Zealand in 16 years.
Fronted by songwriter and novelist John Darnielle, The Mountain Goats are revered the world over for their sprawling catalogue of 23 studio albums, released between 1994 and 2023. The band is known for their sharp lyricism, emotional intensity, and fiercely devoted fanbase, with their live shows often described as a communal experience.
The band will tour in support of their upcoming album, Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan, out November 7th via their own label, Cadmean Dawn Records. Unveiled today, lead single of their 24th studio album, “Armies Of The Lord”, is out now.
Produced by multi-instrumentalist Matt Douglas, Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan is a full-on musical that stands as the most conceptually detailed and musically elaborate project in the band’s ever-expanding catalogue.
It features appearances from The Replacements’ Tommy Stinson, harpist Mikaela Davis, musical theatre royalty Lin-Manuel Miranda, and the band’s new bassist Cameron Ralston.
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Drawing on the cryptic phrasing of its title, Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan’tells the story of a small crew shipwrecked on a desert island, where three surviving members — an unnamed narrator, Captain Peter Balkan, and Adam — are plagued by diminishing resources and apocalyptic visions.
These are tales of survival and desolation, brutality and tenderness, hard-earned wisdom and heaps of compassion, novelistic detail and shouted, wordless choruses that transcend language. In other words, these are Mountain Goats songs, further deepening a singular body of work now spanning over three decades.
The Mountain Goats also recently announced a 20th anniversary reissue of their 2005 fan-favourite album The Sunset Tree, remastered at Abbey Road Studio. Additionally, Darnielle is releasing ‘This Year’ – 365 Songs Annotated: A Book of Days in December, which pairs the definitive texts of 365 of his songs with first-person commentaries on his life and music, which reveal how the songs came to be and the people who inspired them.
Presale begins 10am, Thursday, September 11th, followed by general sale at 10am, Friday, September 12th. Sign-up for presale here.
THE MOUNTAIN GOATS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND 2026
Friday, April 10th
Double Whammy, Auckland NZ
Saturday, April 11th
Meow, Wellington NZ
Monday, April 13th
Metro Theatre, Sydney NSW
Tuesday, April 14th
Princess Theatre, Brisbane QLD
Thursday, April 16th
The Gov, Adelaide SA
Friday, April 17th
Forum, Melbourne VIC
Sunday, April 19th
Freo.Social, Perth WA
